Hippopotamus melitensis

Hippopotamus melitensis
Temporal range: Pleistocene
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Mammalia
Order:Artiodactyla
Family:Hippopotamidae
Genus:Hippopotamus
Species: †H. melitensis
Binomial name
Hippopotamus melitensis
Major, 1902[1]

Hippopotamus melitensis is an extinct hippopotamus from Malta. It arrived after the Messinian salinity crisis[2] and lived during the Pleistocene. The absence of predators led to the dwarfing of the hippos. The majority of findings of this species are from Għar Dalam, a cave on Malta famous for its Pleistocene fossil deposits.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Major, C.I.F., 1902. Some account of a nearly complete skeleton of Hippopotamus madagascariensis, Guldb., from Sirabé, Madagascar, obtained in 1895. Geol. Mag. 1902 pp.193-199.
  2. ↑ Hunt, Christopher O., Schembri, Patrick J., Quaternary Environments and Biogeography of the Maltese Islands, page 31, access in 13/03/2016


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